RH snorkel is a core component of RH vacuum refining. Being continuously immersed in molten steel, it suffers from thermal shock, molten steel scouring and slag corrosion. Its inner and outer refractory linings will thin, spall and fall off, creating risks of steel breakthrough and leakage.
This manipulator is a dedicated refractory gunning and repairing unit for the RH station:
Online hot gunning (core function): During RH production intervals, the snorkel can be hot-gunned with magnesia / magnesia-alumina gunning mix without disassembly or full cooling, to restore refractory lining thickness.
Gunning for both inner and outer walls: The dual-gun model can gun the inner and outer walls either simultaneously or separately. It is difficult and unsafe for workers to perform hot gunning on the inner wall manually, so inner-wall repair is a key exclusive advantage of the manipulator.
Multi-axis positioning: Equipped with travelling trolley plus rotating, lifting and telescopic spray guns for full-coverage, dead-zone-free operation. An optional water-cooled high-temperature camera enables prior endoscopic inspection of worn areas for targeted, precise repair.
Offline cold repair available: It also supports cold gunning of snorkels at the maintenance stand after removal.
Stable dry gunning material delivery: The gunning rate is controllable (normally 20–40 kg/min) to guarantee bonding strength and reduce rebound rate.
Greatly improved safety: Wired or wireless remote control keeps operators away from radiant heat over 1000℃, falling slag and dust. It prevents scalds and gunning-related injuries and solves the safety bottleneck that manual hot repair inside the tube cannot achieve.
Reduced downtime and higher RH availability: Hot repair eliminates long cooling periods and frequent snorkel replacement. Shorter maintenance time cuts unplanned stoppages and enables more continuous refining.
Longer snorkel service life and lower spare part cost: Continuous on-line refractory maintenance extends snorkel service life by approximately 25%–35%, greatly lowering expenses for snorkel procurement, hoisting and disassembly.
Consistent gunning quality and refractory savings: Controlled gun posture delivers uniform lining thickness with lower rebound compared with manual work. Better material adhesion avoids premature spalling caused by uneven manual gunning, reducing refractory consumption per ton of steel.
Compatible with RH dual-snorkel configuration: The dual-gun design matches the layout of two RH snorkels and allows simultaneous inner-and-outer repair. Pre-set automatic gunning programs are supported together with manual fine adjustment for high flexibility.
